Washi -- Japanese hand-made paper craft

Industrious souls embarking on a wild ride -- what kanji character will we use? What size paper? What type pen or paint? Do too many cooks really spoil the broth? NOT HERE! We ROCK!

Our initial forays into art - we are blurry because we are thinking so fast!


Here we are -- ASOBI, the kanji for "play." This is the test run. We subsequently tried "Wa," or harmony, and went back to asobi, and then we decreased the size. We'll use the paper that the kids create instead of this.



Washi is a traditional Japanese art -- hand-made paper. Sometimes the paper will incorporate other natural elements (straw, flowers, grass, etc), and we are having the 4 and 4 year olds rip black washi paper, dribble gold paint on them, and then we will assemble them in a character meaning "PLAY." It's very appropriate, don't you think?


Here we apply a combination of Japanese rice school glue and "bond," which always makes me think, "Bond, James Bond," but is actually GLUE in Japan, and water. The consistency is rather runny, and we pretty much soaked the washi paper to apply it to the laquered washi board. (By the way, a big hooray to the washi shop owner who came to a private home to help apply the gorgeous lacquered paper to a board -- HOORAY!)



And, applying the glue combination, the ladies are making sure that the top piece of washi is carefully glued to the board -- and no bubbles allowed!


You guys are awesome! (Any guesses as to what this project will go for at the auction??)

Look for more detailed pics on the final product next Wednesday.